St Michael and All Angels is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

church on the estate of the

Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of S ...

in the village of Great Badminton,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Attached to the Duke of Beaufort's residence,

Badminton House Badminton House is a large country house and Grade I Listed Building in Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, which has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The house, which has given its name to th ...

, it is an active

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the diocese of Gloucester. Although within the grounds of the Badminton Estate, the church is owned, and its upkeep met, by the Badminton's Parochial Church Council, rather than the Ducal estate. There is a smaller church of the same name in the neighbouring hamlet of Little Badminton.

Building

The current church was built in 1785 by Charles Evans in the style of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

, London, in miniature, but with a plain tower. The medieval predecessor church, which was then demolished, lay slightly further to the west.St. Michael and All Angels, Great Badminto
(webpage)
19 July 2013 The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

of the church has a tunnel-vault with ornamental panelled plasterwork and classical four-bay arcades and aisles with four small saucer domes. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

and

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

were added in 1875 to accommodate the elaborate monument to

Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, KG, PC (162921 January 1700) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1667, when he succeeded his father as 3rd Marquess of Worcester. He was styled Lord ...

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London churches, Petworth House and othe ...

. The 1st Duke was buried alongside his ancestors in the Beaufort Chapel in

St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

,For the inscription see Ashmole's Berkshire, iii. 163 but the monument was moved to Badminton in 1878. Within the church, the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, acces ...

and box pews date from 1785, while the organ case,

choir stalls A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tab ...

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for e ...

and

communion rail The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

were made by

Temple Moore Temple Lushington Moore (7 June 1856 – 30 June 1920) was an English architect who practised in London. He is famed for a series of fine Gothic Revival churches built between about 1890 and 1917 and also restored many churches and designed ch ...

in 1908. The eight windows for the aisles, four on each side, have

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

of 1846-1847 by

Thomas Willement Thomas Willement (18 July 1786 – 10 March 1871) was an English stained glass artist, called "the father of Victorian stained glass", active from 1811 to 1865. Biography Willement was born at St Marylebone, London. Like many early 19th centu ...

with heraldic designs, blue borders, and badges in the yellow of the Beaufort

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

Somerset family tombs

St Michael and All Angels serves as the principal burial place of the

Somerset family ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

of Badminton House. Until about 1910, the Dukes and Duchesses of Beaufort and distinguished relatives were buried in a vault under the church. The later Dukes and Duchesses were interred in the tiny churchyard. Within the church, the monument to the 1st Duke of Beaufort (1629–1700) by

is now on the north side of the chancel, and consists of an

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

of the Duke in

Garter A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking f ...

robes, reclining on a sarcophagus and a plinth with relief of St George and the Dragon. There are twin Corinthian columns with embossed shafts, acanthus frieze,

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

with flaming urns, and the Duke's arms and supporters. At the top, 25 ft from the ground, is a tasselled cushion supporting a

coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara doe ...

; on the plinth are full-length female figures of Justice and Truth. Above the Duke's effigy, parted curtains show the heavenly host with palms and crowns. The Latin inscription displays the names of his family and the many offices he held. Two of his successors, the 2nd Duke (1684–1714) and the 3rd Duke (1707–1745), are commemorated in the East end of the north aisle by a splendid monument by

John Michael Rysbrack Johannes Michel or John Michael Rysbrack, original name Jan Michiel Rijsbrack, often referred to simply as Michael Rysbrack (24 June 1694 – 8 January 1770), was an 18th-century Flemish sculptor, who spent most of his career in England where h ...

, signed and dated 1754. The two dukes are depicted in Roman costume, one standing, the other seated on the sarcophagus and holding a medallion. Decorative, asymmetrical drapery hangs down over the sarcophagus. Burials of members of the Somerset family in and near the church include:, 18 July 2013 * Lady Mary Sackville (1688–1705), daughter of the 6th Earl of Dorset, 1st wife of the 2nd Duke * Lady Rachel Noel (d. 1709), daughter of the 2nd Earl of Gainsborough, 2nd wife of the 2nd Duke *

Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort, KG PC (2 April 1684 – 24 May 1714) was an English peer and politician. He was the only son of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca Child. He was styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1698, ...

(1684–1714) * Mary Capell (1630–1715), daughter of the 1st Baron Capell, wife of the 1st Duke * Henry Somerset-Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort (1707–1745) *

Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (12 September 1709 – 28 October 1756) was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1731 until 1745 when he succeeded to the peerage as Duke of Beaufort. Life Somerset was the ...

(1709–1756) * Lady Anne Somerset (1673–1763), daughter of the 1st Duke, married the 2nd Earl of Coventry * Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort (1744–1803) *

Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort Henry Charles Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, KG (22 December 1766 – 23 November 1835), styled Marquess of Worcester until 1803, was a British politician. Background and education Somerset was the son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufor ...

(1766–1835) *

Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort Major Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, KG (5 February 1792 – 17 November 1853), styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1803 and Marquess of Worcester between 1803 and 1835, was a British peer, soldier, and politician. Background Beaufort was th ...

(1792–1853) * FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855), youngest son of the 5th Duke, Field Marshal * Emily Frances Smith (1800–1889), daughter of

Charles Culling Smith Charles Culling Smith, sometimes called Culling Charles Smith (c. 1775 – 26 May 1853) was a British politician and courtier. Family He was the son of Charles Smith, Governor of Madras, and nephew of Sir Culling Smith, 1st Baronet. On 2 Au ...

, 2nd wife of the 7th Duke *

Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort KG, PC, DL (1 February 1824 – 30 April 1899), styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1835 and Marquess of Worcester from 1835 to 1853, was a British peer, soldier, and Conservative Party politic ...

(1824–1899) * Lady Georgiana Curzon (1825–1906), daughter of the 1st Earl Howe, wife of the 8th Duke *

Henry Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort Captain Henry Adelbert Wellington FitzRoy Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort JP, DL (19 May 1847 – 24 November 1924), styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1853 and Marquess of Worcester between 1853 and 1899, was a British peer. Background and educati ...

(1847–1924) *

Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort Henry Hugh Arthur FitzRoy Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort (4 April 1900 – 5 February 1984), styled Marquess of Worcester until 1924, was a peer, landowner, society figure and a great authority in the fields of horse racing and fox-hunting. ...

(1900–1984) * Lady Mary Cambridge (1897–1987), daughter of the 1st Marquess of Cambridge, wife of the 10th Duke

References

External links

www.badmintonchurch.org.uk
{{coord, 51.5443, -2.2800, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Churches in South Gloucestershire District

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

Churches completed in 1785

18th-century Church of England church buildings